Brandow house remodel reveals some big surprises

LAUREL — Remodeling a house can sometimes bring unexpected surprises.

That was the case for Rich and Sue Brandow.

The room they are currently remodeling gave them a chance to see a hidden door, which then revealed a hidden staircase.

The Brandows own one of the more historic houses in Laurel — the Samuel Mason home.

Mason was born in England in 1822 and married Jemima Beckley in 1849. They came to America shortly thereafter. They came to Laurel in 1895 probably to be near their son Daniel, who settled near what is now the south edge of Laurel in 1880.

Wm. Stukas built the big house in 1899, at which time Mr. Mason was 77 years old.

The cost, incidentally, was $1,375.00. It was originally a double house.

One side was for the Masons; the other was for a daughter who was moving here from Pennsylvania.

The house had two separate living areas and two separate kitchens. That may explain the hidden staircase they found.

Mr. Mason died in 1901. Mrs. Mason died in February or March 1907.

In October 1906 — just a few months before she died — Mrs. Mason sold the house to attorney Frank P. Voter.

Voter probably remodeled it from a double house to a large single home. That may account for the Evers name on the porch wood.

Evers was then affiliated with the lumberyard.

Local historian Roger Tryon, who researched the history of the house and its residents, said he is unsure whether Voter ever lived at the house.

Voter retired in 1946 and moved to Alliance, where he died in 1948. The Advocate said he sold his house when he retired.

“I always wondered why our upstairs hallway was so wide. It was probably split in half,” Rich Brandow said, adding that there was another entrance to the upstairs on the east side.

It was Tryon’s recent story about the lumberyard history that helped Rich Brandow figure it out.

“We had woodwork and porch columns with ‘Evers’ written on one of them. Since the house was built in 1899, that didn’t make sense,” he said. “But it does because F.P. Voter remodeled it into a single-family home. He added the wrap-around porch, too.”